Easing the Economic Burden of Atrial Fibrillation: Making the Case for a Structured Clinical Nurse Specialist-Led Outpatient Clinic.

Abstract

As the life expectancy of Canadians continues to increase, so does the economic burden of chronic conditions within the health care system. One chronic condition that has increased over the past decade is atrialfibrillation (AF). With health care costs forAF estimated at more than $800 million and rising, a new approach is needed to manage AF care to reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits, while improving patients' quality of life. Multidisciplinary outpatient clinics for heart failure patients have been implemented across Canada over the past decade, and have shown a reduction in hospital admissions and emergency room visits. It is probable that the same benefit could be seen with the implementation of a structured, nurse-led outpatient AF clinic. The purpose of this article is to review the existing literature on AF outpatient management, and establish the best approachfor a clinical nurse specialist-led AF outpatient clinic within the Canadian health care system.